Catarman town holds Tarapo Festival

By TERESITA B. CARDENAS, (PIA Northern Samar)
August 24, 2006

CATARMAN, Northern Samar  – A “Tarapo Festival” was held recently in Catarman town, Northern Samar’s capital as an opening salvo for this year’s week-long fiesta celebration which will culminate on August 29, 2006 in honor of the town’s patroness, the Our Lady of the Annunciation.

The festival started with a parade cum street dancing from the Sacred Heart Plaza to the main streets of the town until every participant gathered at the Municipal Auditorium where the contest was held. Costumes and painted revelers danced to the rhythmic steps of the Tarapo, in tempo with the infectious beating of drums and gongs and blowing of whistle.

Tarapo is a dialect widely used and spoken by most people in Northern Samar, particularly in the town of Catarman, Tarapo means “encounter or a chance meeting”. Street dancing including floor exhibition of participants made the whole activity in a festive mood.

The Tarapo Festival was also an invitational festival which encouraged participating groups to present a festival of their choice. As the first invitational festival, the contest wanted to draw participants that could depict the best of different outstanding festivals in the country today.

The Tarapo Festival was participated in by the different tribu(s) or barangays of Catarman. The “Ibabao Festival” of Barangay Airport emerged as the winner followed by the “Bankero Festival” of Barangay Bangkerohan. A presentation from the Eastern Visayas College of Criminology (EVCC) ranked third.

Festival organizers designed the following mechanics: (1) Participating groups must have at least 50 performers or dancers excluding drummers and other accompanists of the performers. (2) Whichever Philippine Festival they choose, participating groups must be aware of the festival storyline. (3)  Performance presentation must be done accurately and appropriately. (4) Street dancing presentation will run for 3 to 4 minutes only in every post or station of performance. (5) A 10-minute time duration will be allotted for floor exhibition.

The criteria of the contest included: choreographic interpretation 40%, timing and mastery 40% and costume 20%, or a total of 100%.